The Miss Teen Dream pageant is a very popular event that occurs every year, and this time, it was decided to be hosted in a far-off island. However, the plane that was taking the contestants crashes, killing the majority of them in the process. Now, the remaining 13 girls must use their own wits to survive a deserted island, and learn to live with eachother. In doing so, they end up learning much more than they expected.
This book humorously confronts several of our everyday issues, such as sexism, racism, colourism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia. It is usually done in a very casual and lighthearted manner, slipped into the narrative but allowing it to progress naturally. Social injustice is constantly denounced through an ever present sarcastic tone that permeates the story, causing the book to be both very important and very entertaining.
The diverse cast of characters allows room for a number of different discussions and representations, in every sense of the word. I was afraid that a book so open about its feminist agenda would fall into the same faults as some of the popular so-called feminists of our time (most white female celebrities) and ignore issues that do not affect them personally, but Libba Bray created a truly intersectional story.
Furthermore, the characters are fleshed out and have very distinct personalities and interests, with a couple of exceptions whose perspectives we do not get to read from, but that again is handled with humour. As such, the book doesn’t restrain the way women are supposed to act and what femininity is supposed to be. For instance, it averts the “dumb girl” trope by humanizing and adding depth to them.
Above all, this is a book about friendship and being yourself , and these messages surprisingly did not come across as cheesy. However, I felt that some of the scenes did, specially those related to romance, and one specific action scene in which the dialogue came across as silly. Besides, not every single joke quite hit the mark for me. Still, Beauty queens is an amusing and provocative story that I want all of my friends to read.
Living in Fiction 